Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin Reviews
Final Fantasy's first attempt at making a Souls-like game delivers on fun gameplay and a flawed but satisfying origin story on Final Fantasy I's Garland. Long-time fans of the series will enjoy the nods to their favorite games while hunting down Chaos.
Square Enix and Team Ninja's latest experiment is a diamond in the rough that you have to sort through depending on which aspects you consider most important in a video game. The anachronistic technical aspect, the confusing visual style, and above all the terrible level of writing will risk alienating players looking for a "classic" Final Fantasy. If you can disengage from expectations and not place too much importance on the story, you might even find its overt tamarazzine hilarious. Within these rough edges, however, pulses a solid action RPG with a technical and layered battle system that, despite its flaws, pleasantly dragged us through hours of challenging and damn fun combat, especially against bosses. If you've never played a soulslike before, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin might be the best way to take your first step into a genre of games with a higher than average level of challenge, but even if you've grown up on bread and Estus you'd do well not to take it lightly. More than ever, we recommend trying out the online demo before deciding whether or not to buy it.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Yes, you will walk away with the Chaos meme stuck in your head, and it will probably be the most memorable thing about any of the characters here, but at least there’s something that will stick. Regardless, Stranger of Paradise puts forward a Final Fantasy game that presents less of the regular formula, yet a mixture of great action-adventure, soulslike, role-playing that will entice you to come back again, and again.
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origins is as strange and, at times, puzzling as it is fun and addictive.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Like a good dad joke, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin may not be for everyone, but it grew on me and in the end, I loved every minute of it.
"Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin" is the first action RPG in the Final Fantasy series which aims for an action with great difficulty. While the attempt looked good, the results were utterly disgraceful. The game is covered with excessive lighting effects, half-hearted storylines and failed to motivate players to grow their skills. Sadly, 'action' became the only good merit of this game.
Review in Korean | Read full review
Stranger of Paradise, despite its poor story presentation, manages to be a great spinoff for the Final Fantasy series, with gameplay beyond my expectations. It's time to destroy the Chaos! Wherever it is!
Review in Turkish | Read full review
To my delight, I had an impressive amount of fun with Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin. Thankfully, its awesome stage designs and intricate character customization component ended up shining brighter than the humdrum story and disappointing visuals.
Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin is a wacky game that will end up being a cult classic. The devs were not afraid to march to the beat of their own drum, and the result is the type of slightly messy, unique AA game that we used to get in the late 2000s and early 2010s. It’s goofy, flawed, and fabulous, and I hope Square Enix continues to lean into publishing more experimental titles like this.
Trashy Final Fantasy spinoff with a boring story, but one that scores with an ingenious combat system and online co-op.
Review in German | Read full review
With Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, Team Ninja has produced yet another rather good Final Fantasy action game. With its deep yet more forgiving combat system, it can appeal to those not seeking the challenging experiences of something like Nioh. Furthermore, with its complex mix-and-match Jobs system, it brings a uniquely Final Fantasy flair to the hack-and-slash genre. Unfortunately, its dull protagonist and plot may struggle to keep the attention of anyone curious about the backstory it is trying to create for the original Final Fantasy. The loot system could also do with some overhauls. Still, you can certainly do worse than Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin if you’re looking for a new multiplayer action game with some clever Final Fantasy twists.
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is an enjoyable experiment in melding Soulslike conventions onto a Final Fantasy skeleton. However it undercuts itself by not daring for more complexity, setting up great narrative and gameplay turns that never come to pass.
Strangers of Paradise is a loveable action-RPG despite its best efforts to spoil itself with a story that only becomes interesting in the last hour. The action is a little messy and not all of the moving parts gel together perfectly, but it's got a compelling janky charm that is hard to ignore.
Although the action is extremely enjoyable, game stumbles in other areas. It's a direct purchase for the fans of the series, but others can wait for discounts.
Review in Turkish | Read full review
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is an interesting proposition for many players, but you can not expect a hit. The Japanese use many well-known ideas, but unfortunately only a few have received adequate attention to offer high quality. The title is a good proposition for great fans of the NiOh series and fans of Final Fantasy.
Review in Polish | Read full review
This is not full-fledge Final Fantasy as you know it, but good spin-off to remember. It gives you another shot at Souls genre and is accessible to more players. Action hack-and-slash system is solid and you can spend 30-40 hours in dungeons, fierce battles, grab plenty of loot ' and it is fun!
Review in Slovak | Read full review
All things considered, Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin is a good spin-off. It feels different enough to stand out, without it being so different to throw fans off. Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite check every box. Combat could be a little better, gameplay a bit deeper, story a little less goofy and so forth but it’s a good first attempt. One that is worth giving a go if you enjoy either experience.
This game tries to do a lot. It re-tells the story of the very first Final Fantasy, but is also an Origin story. It tries to pay homage to 35 years of FF games, but also provide a new experience. It wants to be a Souls game, but without the Souls difficulty, a hacker-slasher and a loot game. Against a backdrop of sub-par graphics, some choices work, some don't. The combat is pretty good, while the graphics, level design and story let down. This entry to the Final Fantasy multiverse won't be for the ages.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
Those who love action RPGs and have fun with Team Ninja games, will undoubtedly have a good time with Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin.
Review in Greek | Read full review
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is a flawed, but actually quite enjoyable action RPG. The story is surprisingly good, combat is incredibly satisfying and the excellent character customization goes very deep. Graphics are a major sore spot, as was the disappointing end-game content, but overall I'm glad I got to experience this game.